The Virginia Virtual Advanced Placement School (VVAPS) offers online AP and foreign language courses to students across the Commonwealth and nation. The courses use the Desire2Learn course-management software to maximize interactivity. Each course contains video segments, audio clips, whiteboard, online discussions, and text. E-Teachers are available for telephone conversations with students throughout the school day. VVAPS classes offer a rich, multimedia, learning environment that appeals to various learning styles. VVAPS courses can be scheduled flexibly throughout the day, as courses do not have to be taken in real time. Middle and high school students who meet the prerequisites may enroll through their schools.

Virtual learning is the new frontier in today’s educational institutions. Twenty-first century technology provides a unique opportunity for educators to reach students who want the experience of advanced placement coursework. Technology-related professional development is now available through Virtual Virginia, which enables the OET to train a larger number of administrators, library media specialists, and instructional technology resource teachers while virtually eliminating travel and leave time.

Additional information on Virtual Virginia can be found at http://www.virtualvirginia.org/ .